With Ovechkin out, Hurricanes defeat Capitals
Brent Burns scored his 11th goal of the season, Frederik Andersen made 34 saves and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the depleted Washington Capitals 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Burns had one of three Hurricanes goals scored thanks to a point shot from a defenseman. The 2017 Norris Trophy winner scored through traffic, Calvin de Haan’s shot went in off Paul Stastny, and Brady Skjei’s shot was redirected in by Stefan Noesen on the power play.
The Hurricanes have won 10 of their past 12 to pad their lead atop the Metropolitan Division.
Joe Snively, only in the lineup because of the absences of Ovechkin and forward Aliaksei Protas — who’s out to be with his wife for the birth of the couple’s first child — had a goal and a primary assist. The Northern Virginia native set up T.J. Oshie with a perfect pass in front and later picked a corner on Andersen to score his first goal since Feb. 17, 2022.
Ryan Graves scored off a feed from Michael Mcleod in front of the net with 1.4 seconds left, and New Jersey beat Columbus for its fourth win in five games.
Yegor Sharangovich and Jesper Bratt had the other goals for the Devils, and Graves also had an assist. Vitek Vanecek stopped 31 shots for New Jersey, which remains three points behind firstplace Carolina and moved five ahead of the New York Rangers in the Metropolitan Division.
Adam Boqvist had a goal and an assist, and Johnny Gaudreau scored for Columbus, which has lost five of six, including three straight at home, and continues to sit last in the NHL. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 29 shots.
Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson each scored in the shootout and Ottawa won its sixth game in seven outings.
Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk each recorded a goal and an assist in regulation. Kevin Mandolese finished with 46 saves in his NHL debut.
Ryan Pulock and Brock Nelson scored for New
The Montreal Canadiens scored three goals in the third period to win its third straight.
Joel Armia scored one goal and added an assist, while Jonathan Drouin collected three assists. Justin Barron, David Savard and Christian Dvorak also scored.
Jake Allen made 22 saves to bank his first shutout of the season.
Jaxson Stauber made 27 saves as Chicago started a four-game Canadian road trip with back-toback losses. After three straight wins to start his NHL career, the Canadiens handed the 23-yearold his first loss.